Inflatable display



March 27, 1962 J. H LEMELSON INFLATABLE DISPLAY Filed Jan. 16, 1956 Fig.4

v INVENTOR. Jerome H.Lemelson United, States Pat-em 3,026,648 INFLATABLEDISPLAY Jerome H. Lemelson, 289 High St, Perth Arnhoy, NJ. Filed Jan.16, 1956, Ser. No. 559,232 4 Claims. (Cl. 46-87) This invention relatesto inflatable plastic articles such as beach balls, toy figures, and thelike and, in particular, to improved decorative structures therefor.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improvedinflatable article of manufacture which is attractive and has animproved decorative wall structure.

Another object is to provide an improved structure in inflatablearticles with a wall decoration which will not easily wear otf or fade.

Still another object is to provide an improved inflatable article havinga photographic image developed in a portion of the wall thereof whichimage is highlighted by ambient light.

Another object is to provide a new inflatable toy doll or figurerepresenting a mock figure with a facial portion having a realisticimage provided therein thereby enhanc ing the realism of the toy andmaking it more attractive to children.

Another object is to provide an inflatable toy or doll having aphotographic image of the face of a human being provided thereon whichwill make the toy more interesting and attractive.

The above as well as further objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention will be best appreciated by reference to the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment, when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation of an inflatable ball toy having a wallportion with a photographic image provided thereon;

FIG. 2 is a View, in cross section, of a fragment of an inflatable toyshowing part of the front and rear walls thereof;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of part of an inflatable doll made inaccordance with the teachings of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a view of a fragment of an inflatable body showing furtherdetails of the invention.

Conventional decorated inflatable articles such as beach balls, swimrings, dolls or the like provide, when illustrated with silk screeneddesigns, a colorful but often flat and relatively unattractiveappearance. Plastic inks or paints which are utilized to decorate sucharticles frequently have a tendency to fade and wear off with use due tothe fact that they are only a surface coating. As a result, the articleor toy soon loses its attractive appearance. 'In FIGS. 1 to 4 areprovided improved designs for flexible plastic and inflatable plasticarticles of manufacture such as toy figures, balls or the like, whichhave a photographic illustration as part of the decoration theme, whichillustration will not easily fade or rub off but will provide a new andmore interesting mode of illustration. By thus decorating such articles,the aforementioned shortcomings are overcome and removal of the designby scufling, fading or discoloration is eliminated. This is effected byutilizing as part of the inflatable figure a construction comprising aflexible plastic sheeting with photographic images or illustrativedecorations developed and formed in and through said sheet- FIG. 1 showsa partially sectioned view of an inflated bulbous bag or ball made offlexible plastic sheeting such as polyvinyl chloride and having a uniqueand improved decorated portion forming part of its wall. The bag 10 maybe constructed of two or more sheets 12 and "ice 14 of flexible vinylplastic, heat sealed in a closed loop sealing line 16 so as to form anenclosure representing a ball, figure or other shape when inflated. Atleast one of the flat sheets making up the enclosure 10 of FIG. 1 ismade of a developable, photosensitive plastic composition or laminatesuch as Calimar which has been exposed to an image pattern ofultraviolet light and developed by heat or other means providing aphotographic image 18 through and through said sheet 12. Calimar,developed by the Ferro Chemical Corporation of Bedford, Ohio, refers toa variety of heat developable photosensitive plastic compositions havingpolyvinyl chloride organosols as the plastic bodies as well as otherthermoplastic materials. The photographic system embodies latentFriedel-Crafts catalyst formations which become effective at the 270' to350 F. development temperature. The polyvinyl chloride does not normallypartake in the photo catalyzed thermo-chemical image formation. Thebasic components other than the plastic media consist as follows:

(a) A Friedel-Crafts cation progenitor which is generally a metal oxideor metallo-organic compound.

(b) A Friedel-Crafts anion progenitor which is essentially an acidsource.

(0) A color progenitor which forms dyes or pigments underFriedel-Crafting conditions at development temperatures.

(d) A Thermal Deactivator which forms a fixing reaction which stabilizes:the film against subsequent coloration.

In addition, color modifying agents may also be added in the form oflake forming or chelating types. Calimar has been made which employsnaphthoquinone derivatives as the color progenitor and produces darkbrown, sepia images. After the proper exposure to an ultraviolet patternof light, such a photo-plastic material may have the image developedtherein by further exposure to the infrared or heat radiation in therange of 270 to 350 F.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of said sheets 12 and 14 in cross section.At least part of the wall 12 is made of a transparent flexible polyvinylchloride photoplastic. The shaded areas 20* represent the dark areas ofthe photographic image developed in said sheet. Because of thetransparent nature of the surrounding clear photographic image areas 22which result when sheet 12 is developed and fixed, said areas will notordinarily be viewed or seen with ease, unless highlighted from therear. The opposite wall 14 of 10 if provided as a sheet of lighttransmitting plastic will permit ambient light to pass completelythrough the inflatable bag and illuminate or highlight the image.

FIG. 3 illustrates part of an inflatable figure 24 having a head portion25 extending from a body section 25 with said head portion having anillustration in the form of a photograph 27 of the face of a humanbeing. As stated, the conventional inflatable toy is illustrated withcolored plastic inks which are printed or silk-screened on. These inksprovide but a drab, two dimensional illustrative effect which is notvery realistic. The fact that an inflatable toy is further limited inshape to a bulbous, flexible bag further reduces the effect of realismoften desired in inflatable toys which the structure of FIG. 3 attemptsto overcome.

By the method of fabrication illustrated in FIG. 3 a patch or section 26of flexible photo-plastic sheeting is heat welded, cemented or otherwisebonded to one of the sections or walls of the inflatable toy, andpreferably covers the entire facial portion of a sufiicient area of thehead portion to give the effect that the photographical- 1y developedfacial illustration is the face of the figure. The materiai of theinflated head section under the 3 photo-plastic section may be white orpink vinyl so that the photograph stands out. The rear surface of theface section 26 may also be coated a bright color to derive a realisticand outstanding effect. The notation S denotes the circumscribingwelding line sealing the photoplastic section 26 to the base 25, afunction which may be accomplished by the use of proper heat sealingelectronic dies applied thereto.

The construction of FIG. 4, like that of FIG. 3, cmploys a photographicpatch or section 28 of photoplastic material which is sealed to the base25 over an opening or cutout 30 therein. Said cutout provides, if thewall 32 of the assembled figure is made of a translucent or transparentplastic, a high lighting effect attained by illumination of the rearwall of the photoplastic section 28 since the illustration will belighted by ambient light from the rear.

Numerous other modifications of the present invention will beappreciated by those skilled in the art and accordingly, the appendedclaims should be construed broadly as is consistent with the appendedclaims and, in certain instances, some features of the invention will beused without a corresponding use of other features.

I claim:

1. An inflatable article comprising an enclosure of a flexible plasticmaterial, an opening in said enclosure, a section of flexiblelight-transmitting plastic sheeting covering said opening and sealed atits circumferential edges to the portion of the enclosure surroundingthe opening, an area of said section carrying an image photographicallydeveloped therein, and at least part of the remaining wall of saidenclosure having light transmitting properties for permitting externallight to pass therethrough and into the interior of said enclosure forilluminating and high-lighting said image.

2. An inflatable article in accordance with claim 1 in which saidflexible plastic enclosure has a bulbous balllike shape when it isinflated.

3. An inflatable doll comprising an enclosure of a flexible plasticmaterial, having a body portion and a head portion extending upwardtherefrom, an opening in said head portion, a section of flexible lighttransmitting plastic sheeting covering said opening and sealed near itscircumferential edges to the portion of the enclosure surrounding theopening, an area of said section of light transmitting plastic carryinga facial photographic image derived by photographing the front of ahuman head, said facial image being positioned at substantially thefacial area of the head portion of said doll, and at least part of theremaining wall of said doll having light transmitting properties forpermitting external light to pass therethrough and into the interior ofsaid enclosure to the head portion for illuminating and highlightingsaid photographic image.

4. An inflatable toy comprising an enclosure of a fiexible plasticmaterial having a torso portion and a head portion of smaller diameterextending outward from said torso portion, at least part of the frontwall of the head portion of said enclosure being transparent and beingmade of a photoplastic material with the image derived from a photographof the front view of at least part of a human head developed therein,and at least part of the remaining wall of said enclosure having lighttransmitting properties for permitting external light to passtherethrough and into the interior of said enclosure for illumimatingand highlighting said image.

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